This game recap is presented by MAA Corporate Partner Chamberland Orthopaedics
GUNNISON, Colo. - The Colorado Classic trophy is back home in Gunnison for the first time in 12 years. The annual Western State Colorado University and Adams State University matchup ended with the Mountaineers winning 39-37.
"It's always great playing in the bowl and coming away with a victory," Western Head Coach
Jas Bains said. "Just great to get the win. The guys just kept playing and kept believing. It's a great team victory and I'm just proud of the team for finishing the game."
After a last minute drive defeated Western (2-2, 1-1 RMAC) a week ago against No. 2 CSU-Pueblo, it was the Mountaineers' turn. After holding ASU (1-3, 0-2 RMAC) to a three-and-out, Western got the ball back with 3:31 remaining in the game, down by five, 37-32.
The Mountaineers' drive began at their own 12 yard line. After getting a first down on the second play of the drive, Western's offense stalled. The Mountaineers found themselves in a fourth down situation, needing 10 yards for the first. With the game on the line, Western quarterback
Brett Arrivey (So., Woodinville, Wash.) threw a strike across the middle to wide receiver
Travis Haney (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) for 17 yards and a Mountaineer first down.
Western continued to drive down the field with an equal dose of Arrivey and running back
Austin Ekeler (So., Eaton, Colo.). This combination led Western down the field and were at the Adams State 9-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. After a Mountaineer timeout, Arrivey once again found Haney, this time for the game winning touchdown with six seconds remaining.
Western's Ekeler carried the ball 44 times for the Mountaineers, which ranks second best in Western history, Averaging 5.3 yards per carry, Ekeler quickly accumulated 232 yards on the ground, which is sixth best in Western history. Ekeler owns the fifth place record for yards in a game, rushing for 247 yards in the season opener against Wayland Baptist. Ekeler also scored three touchdowns on the day.
The Mountaineers got out to an early lead, scoring the first 17 points of the game. Adams managed to get on the scoreboard with a late first quarter score to pull within 10 at 17-7.
Each team added a touchdown in the second quarter. However, Western failed to convert on the two-point conversion try and took a 23-14 lead into the break.
The Mountaineers struck first in the third quarter with a
Ryan Winke (So., Aurora, Colorado) 51-yard field goal. However, the rest of the quarter was dominated by the Grizzlies. ASU scored two touchdowns and kicked a field goal to take their first lead of the game, 31-26, into the fourth quarter.
Ekeler scored on his second running touchdown of the day at the 12:49 mark in the fourth quarter to put the Mountaineers back on top 32-31. However, that celebration was short lived as the Grizzlies found the endzone again, putting ASU in the lead 37-32 at the 10:15 mark.
Western's second touchdown of the day came by way of the defense.
Mark Jones intercepted Adams State's McKnight and returned the ball 41 yards into the end zone. The Mountaineer defense has accounted for 20 points so far this season.
Arrivey threw for a total of 228 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner. The first touchdown was thrown to Ekeler, on a 47-yard pass. Ekeler had a total of 288 all-purpose yards.
One of the most impressive stats on the day also came from Ekeler. On 44 attempts, Ekeler lost only one yard, despite getting hit in the backfield on multiple occasions.
"Austin is just a blue collar hard-nosed guy," Bains remarked about Ekeler. "He gets the tough yards but also does great job getting vertical and breaking tackles."
In his last appearance in the Colorado Classic,
Jaden Terry (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colorado) led the Mountaineers in tackles with 11 and also contributed a half sack. Terry now sits in 10th place at Western in total career tackles with 277.
Arrivey's 22 completions on the day move him into sixth place in the Western career passing completions list. Arrivey has 330 completions as a Mountaineer.
The Mountaineers will continue the season next Saturday against Chadron State College in Nebraska.
